Greeley sees record-breaking cold for second straight day

The high today is expected to reach 30 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The low will fall to about 20 degrees. By midweek, the highs will be back in the 40s.

The absolutely frigid temperature Sunday broke a record in Greeley for the second day in a row.

The low temperature hit minus 15 degrees, according to information gathered at a weather monitoring station on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado. That number obliterated a 41-year-old record for the date, which was set Dec. 18, 1975, when the low temperature was minus 6.

On Saturday, the low for the day also broke a record. It fell to minus 2, breaking a mark set in 1989.

The National Weather Service also uses a thermometer at the Greeley-Weld Airport, 600 Airport Road, to track the city's weather. About midnight Saturday, it read minus 23, said Todd Dankers, a meteorologist at the organization's Boulder office.

“I told you, we’re pretty lucky.

— Denise Colberg, Windsor Middle School teacher

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"Greeley … runs coldest along the I-25 corridor here," he said.

The Poudre and South Platte rivers bring cold air, and they meet right outside of Greeley. That area is low in elevation, so the cold air stays put.

"That can kind of pool up there in Greeley," he said.

The Greeley-Weld Airport reading usually comes in about 5-8 degrees lower than the figures from Denver International Airport, he said.

Although the temperature also is undoubtedly colder than it has been this winter, it's nothing too out of the ordinary. An Arctic front came through the country this weekend, Dankers said, and you can expect one about every two years at least.

"All the way from Seattle, down into Texas, sweeping eastward (toward) the upper Midwest — that's the way these arctic outbreaks kind of play out," he said.

Around the state, the weather service reported the thermometer dipped to 27 degrees below zero in Limon. Breckenridge saw the most snow, with 16 inches, which gave skiers and snowboarders the heavy snow they have been hoping for all season.

Still, the cold isn't unheard for this time of year, Dankers said.

"It's a late December night with snow on the ground and clear skies," he said.

Today

The high today is expected to reach 30 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The low will fall to about 20 degrees. By midweek, the highs will be back in the 40s.